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in the United States This table is intended as a general guide to the largest US shopping malls, as information may not be complete or up-to-date. All the listed malls are enclosed unless otherwise noted. Listed in order of gross leaseable areas (GLA), which are largely self-reported by mall managers. Authorities do not always list the same figures. Sources: Directory of Major Malls: 2006, and the National Research Bureau and International Council on Shopping Centers web sites. |
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The largest shopping malls seem to hold the same fascination as the tallest skyscrapers, the longest bridge spans, and a host of similar extreme achievements in architecture and engineering. Some large malls actively promote their size with pride, implying that they offer a greater variety of merchandise or a richer consumer experience in comparison with their smaller competitors. Tables on this site are based on simple criteria: (1) a shopping mall is an integrated commercial space, usually a single enclosed building, devoted predominantly to retail sales and services and (2) it is managed by a single entity, such as the owner or a management company. Size is based on gross leaseable area (GLA), that is the total area of floor space leased for retail shops, consumer services, and entertainment, including restaurants. The total floor area of any shopping center or mall is inevitably larger than the gross leaseable area. The difference can be accounted for by mall offices, utility areas, storage, rest rooms, interior plazas, and other non-revenue producing spaces. Areas that are not let on long-term leases, such as assembly halls, exhibition space, public meeting rooms, and the like are usually not included in GLA figures, though they may produce some rental revenue. The Mall of America, for example, which is the largest US mall in terms of total floor area (4.2-million square feet), uses a substantial portion of its interior space for non-retail functions. The Directory of Major Malls and most other sources of shopping center data do not include this considerable space when reporting the GLA. As a result, the Mall of America appears second on the list of the largest malls in terms of GLA, even though its total area far exceeds any other mall in the United States. Claims for the largest shopping mall have become more muddled with the proliferation of mixed-use developments, such as lifestyle centers and festival marketplaces, that combine consumer activities with sites of historic interest, entertainment, leisure activities, and residential areas. Retail space in such settings may take on forms that are nearly identical to stand-alone shopping malls, but increasingly retail space is shared with other activities in the same complex or building. In other cases, promoters have touted the large size of shopping centers by including other distinct entities, such as separate big-box stores, restaurants, and even adjacent shopping centers. That may be the case at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The mall complex at King of Prussia has sought to establish its place among the largest in the United States as a result of the merger of three adjacent malls. In recent years, it has been promoted as "the largest shopping complex on the East Coast," "the second largest mall in the country" and most recently can boast of being "the largest shopping area in the United States." King of Prussia comprises three malls that have been connected by a crosswalk and operated by a single management company. They are the the Plaza (formerly Plaza King Mall, opened in 1962) with 1,878,715 square feet GLA, the Pavillion (formerly the Court Pavillion of King of Prussia, opened in 1976), with 728,059 square feet GLA, and the Court (formerly the Court Pavilion at King of Prussia), with 192,182 square feet GLA. Thus the total GLA at King of Prussia appears to be nearly 2.8-million square feet, depending on the source used, which would make it eligible for a place among the largest malls in the United States. Ordering the largest malls in the world by size is even more problematic because of uncertainties about just what malls outside the United States are reporting as their gross leaseable areas. Some mall managers may be reporting gross floor area for their entire malls, which could include walkways, offices, or areas occupied by non-retail activities, such as exhibit areas, public meeting rooms, and educational attractions. Some malls may use other unspecified criteria for reporting their size. Malls that report such figures are not directly comparable with those that report size in terms of strict gross leasable area. Sources for King of Prussia: Directory of Major Malls (2006) for GLA; also Major Malls Directory at the International Council of Shopping Centers <www.icsc.org> Jan. 27, 2007; National Research Bureau <www.nrbonline.com> Jan. 27, 2007; and King of Prussia web site <www.kingofprussiamall.com> Sept. 12, 2006. |
